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What to do with logs that are just Stupid

I have a series of caches on the Benton Rail Trail (Ammo cans and other larger containers!) Yesterday I received 26 notifications in a few minute period. 6 different names were used and at first I thought it was one of those robot loggers. Some of the logs were "Field Trip" Some were "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Some read "No Comment" Some were "Fun Field Trip".

I'm guessing that a teacher had some students create Geocaching profiles and took them down the trail. The profiles of the cachers show that they just found these caches and no others.

Like a lot of cachers, I find "TFTC" or "Got it" to be annoying, but I admit that these logs really, really annoyed me.

Now, should I be happy that kids are being brought into caching, or should I delete these annoying, stupid logs. I have never deleted a log before this.

If it is a teacher I would assume that they would also log the caches and maybe you can gain some insight once you see their logs. Although I agree with you about the "TFTC" logs if it is a bunch of kids then I would take it as a learning experience for them and hopefully the teacher will instruct them to make better logs if they continue.

They found the cache, they get the smiley. It's unfortunate that the teacher apparently did not promote writing good logs however.

While it's good to see kids learn about caching, I can't help but think that a percentage of those kids will see it as an opportunity to hunt them down to remove or otherwise vandalize them in the future. In some ways, caching was better when only the geeky hiker types found out about it. It's anybody's game now.

I have a series of caches on the Benton Rail Trail (Ammo cans and other larger containers!) Yesterday I received 26 notifications in a few minute period. 6 different names were used and at first I thought it was one of those robot loggers. Some of the logs were "Field Trip" Some were "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Some read "No Comment" Some were "Fun Field Trip".

I'm guessing that a teacher had some students create Geocaching profiles and took them down the trail. The profiles of the cachers show that they just found these caches and no others.

Like a lot of cachers, I find "TFTC" or "Got it" to be annoying, but I admit that these logs really, really annoyed me.

Now, should I be happy that kids are being brought into caching, or should I delete these annoying, stupid logs. I have never deleted a log before this.

I wouldn't delete them, annoying as they are. If it's their first caching experience, then they need some guidance. If it's not, then send them to rehab at Brdad's.
I think there's more positive aspects to this than negatives. Then again....we all have bad days. Can you say "Habitual Offender?"

Everyone has the right to be an idiot at times. Just don't abuse the privilege.

They found the cache, they get the smiley. It's unfortunate that the teacher apparently did not promote writing good logs however.

While it's good to see kids learn about caching, I can't help but think that a percentage of those kids will see it as an opportunity to hunt them down to remove or otherwise vandalize them in the future. In some ways, caching was better when only the geeky hiker types found out about it. It's anybody's game now.

You guys are right. I was inundated by 26 logs posted in just a few seconds. I did finally find one that said "Took 26 kids on a trip today caching". I guess I just couldn't understand why "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" was a post and was placing it with those roboposts last month.

The kids were from Benton Elementary. I guess that's why I work in a high school. With a badge and gun.

BRDAD, I started in early 2007. Do I get hiker geek status? I think of myself as a geek, most of the time.

Speaking of geek, I gave a quick interview for 107.9 over the weekend while supporting a food drive here in Oakland. I have done this with radio before and thought it was weird that the reporter was using a cell phone instead of a traditional mike. He explained that the new Droid has a microphone so good that it makes the old mike obsolete, it even filters out the sound of wind. If I could find a good caching program, I'd dump my blackberry in a heartbeat!

BRDAD, I started in early 2007. Do I get hiker geek status? I think of myself as a geek, most of the time.

That's an interesting question. I guess my answer is that the year you joined has less to do with that than if you would have found out about caching if not for the modern influences such as promotion by GPSr and mapping manufacturers or the mainstream media.

If you would have acted on a blurb on some hiking or mapping site, noticed a reference to it in a letterbox, stumbled across it while looking for software you could hook your GPSr up to, or similar obscure methods, then you may have hiker geek status.

Speaking of geek, I gave a quick interview for 107.9 over the weekend while supporting a food drive here in Oakland. I have done this with radio before and thought it was weird that the reporter was using a cell phone instead of a traditional mike. He explained that the new Droid has a microphone so good that it makes the old mike obsolete, it even filters out the sound of wind. If I could find a good caching program, I'd dump my blackberry in a heartbeat!

I have a droid, and recently used it for a little undercover work where I needed to record some audio. It worked great! The file format was odd, but my sidekick was able to get it converted easily. The best part was being able to email the recorded audio right from my phone. It was in the inbox of the proper person before I was back in town! As far as caching, I use c:geo. Effortless, as long as you have some signal. Dump the BB, you will be glad you did!

Kids!

I've done a handful of geocaching presentations to Junior High school kids. When they're first introduced, they seem more interested in the "gadgets", the more unusual caches I've put out and coins. I always hand out a typical cache sheet but one with good logs and explain that the fun of hiding is reading the logs people write about our caches. Might as well try and get them off on the right foot.

I've toned down my criticism of serial loggers and find that a quick note thanking the serial logger and asking if there was any cache that stood out will often send a more subtle suggestion to the cacher to try a little harder in the future. For those that read this and still serial log, put out some caches, read the logs and I am certain you'll change your ways!